Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

It took me a year to find another job. I have 2 degrees and still can't get work in my field anywhere near where I live and still work in retail. Could I move, maybe, but I do have obligations here. I know others who have been looking for longer. Try to find a new job. Dare you. It is not easy and anyone who says it is hasn't looked lately.

As for the "make book" fiasco, basically, the CEO at the time, Ron Marshall, decided that Borders was going to "make" a book a bestseller. Basically, to show publishers, "yes, we can make you a lot of money, see, see, see! So please, keep on sending us books since we keep sending you them back cause we're not selling them and we need the money." However, the titles picked were not universal, usually included rape of some sort and were expensive. Did Borders make several of them bestsellers? Yes. Was there high pressure on booksellers, up to and including write-ups for not selling enough and people losing their jobs? Yup.

I know one day I up sold about 200 dollars worth of books to a customer who was looking for something new to read and got yelled at because the customer took one look at the make book, laughed and didn't buy it. Let's ignore the fact that $200 bucks was made, but because it wasn't the "right" book, it didn't matter. Things like that made Borders what it is today.

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

Hey, I understand how hard it is to find a job. I just rejoined the workforce in January after being unemployed for 15 months....I hear ya.

My point is, if you have some experience in retail, can't you just go to the local B&N, Staples, Best Buy, Starbucks, FYE, or whatever, and pretty much get the same pay and benefits? These people I see at Borders are making a career of it, and I'm not talking about managers. I don't know where you live, but the two Borders around me are right in the middle of big retail districts, with dozens of stores (including a mall) within a mile or two.

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

Even in retail, it's hard to get another job. Especially if you're full time and want to stay that way. And, I don't know about other markets, but I have 3 colleges in town here. There are plenty of college students willing to take minimum wage and 20 hours a week.

Plus, up until the last couple years, Borders was nice/okay to work for. And up until recently, if you weren't part of the mainstream, if you were more alternative, it was a good place to work. We had a pretty diverse staff that loved to read and could recommend something for every one. You go to Target or Best Buy and they can show you the product on the shelf and say, "this one does this." Have they used it or done more than look at the box to find out details? Probably not.

A bookseller, a real one, has read quite a lot, in many different genres. Mine was sci-fi/fantasy, plus kids. Your kid liked horses? I could name 3 series off the top of my head that I've read that I could recommend and tell you details, plus what age level/reading level is needed. Don't know who Neil Gaiman is? I do. I could go directly to the shelf, tell you plots of several of his books and tell you which version you want.

A student looking for a book report? I could list not only the classics but also modern classics that were more interesting than anything by Charles Dickens.

That's what was lost with the change in management over the years. It did used to be all about the customer and customer service. To do that, though, first you have treat your employees right and not like they are mentally challenged. Also, when I was hired I was asked several questions about what I read, who my favorite author was, things like that. Now-a-days, they are only interested in people who a)aren't looking for more than minimum wage and b)can sell you a used car whether or not you're in the market for one.

It's hard to let go of that feeling of connecting with a customer who truly shares a passion with you. And, having worked in other retail stores before, it's not a feeling you get at other retail stores. So people stick with it. Misplaced loyalty, be it for a company they once knew or the other people in the same boat as them. Perhaps they've been looking for a job that offers benefits and the same pay since they have been working there 10-15 years...

I know when I found another job, it was at a pay cut, plus I lost my benefits. Totally worth it to not be stressed out all the time but I could manage to do that a lot better than some others I worked with who barely were keeping their heads above water as it was.

I know that when most stores hire, they really aren't interested (and I am speaking around where I live, can't speak for other areas) in hiring more than part time and certainly not at the same pay rate you were making before.

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

That's assuming most of those places are hiring for the same pay/benefits. Or even hiring at all. Most retail stores are cutting hours significantly and some running on a complete Skeleton staff for half of the day.

A friend of mine who had worked for Borders for maybe 8+ years (?), F/T + Benefits, finally got fed up with how things were going the past 2 years at Borders and quit.

With that much retail experience you'd think it would be easy finding something similar right? He got a job at Best Buy, who only picked him up for Seasonal Work, saying there would be a chance for the switch to F/T. No go and they let him go after Season ended.

Recently he got a job at Whole Foods. Same thing, even with his experience he got picked up for 15-20 hours (P/T) with the hope that they would switch him to F/T eventually.

If retail stores are not running on Skeleton crews, they are cutting down a lot of Full-Timers into Part-Timers. Can't afford to pay the F/T when your daily sales goals suck and no one is buying anything.

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

I've never had anyone at Borders attempt to hard sell me anything. In fact, I can go there, spend a couple of hours, and not have a single employee speak to me. There is a Borders near a shopping center that my girlfriend frequents, and I'll go there for a couple of hours while she's out shopping for shoes, bubble bath, bedsheets, and clothes

Just wondering, but are they supposed to approach me and put a copy of the rape book in my hands or something?

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

I've heard many similar stories.

Shouldn't really be surprising that people aren't spending money at retail when they're paying $3.15+ a gallon for gas, $200 a month for their cell phones, $50 for internet, $100+ for satellite/cable tv, while retail prices climb higher and higher.

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

Well, one thing I learned from this thread: People like Alpha DVD's.

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

This ended a while ago. Around last spring, actually. There was a new CEO who replaced Marshall. Marshall was the one that came up with that idea. If you consistently went into the store in the spring/summer of 2009 through March (I think it was March, could've been April) of 2010, you would've been approached. If not, (I know that I refused to shove it down people's throats unless I was being watched) you probably saw a book displayed in the doorway, on the info desk, on the top 10 bestsellers list, at the registers and at least one or two other places on display. Middle Place, Horse Soldiers, Girls from Ames, City of Thieves, You Better Not Cry (which was funny but NOT a book for the average customer) and so on...

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

Nice to see you were paying attention!

Seriously, I know a lot of people sneer at Alpha DVDs but for $5 a crack I got to see a lot of movies I only got to read about as a kid plus no one else was offering them at all. If given a choice between having a movie on an Alpha DVD (many of which are pretty good transfers, it depends on how good the original elements were) or not having that movie at all, or for a lot more money for a not very much better transfer, I think most of us would opt for the Alpha version.

Probably the beginning of the end for Borders was when they stopped carrying Alpha DVDs, or when they raised the price enough to make them less competitive. From that point forward their demise was inevitable.

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

Agreed 100%. Hell gas prices are at around $3.40-$3.60 here in Northern California.

At the same time I've heard (from previous Retail Experience) Customers give employees a hard time about running on Skeleton Crews.

It's not like anyone working at a Retail Store likes doing triple (sometimes more) the amount of work because there aren't enough hours to go around per week (which get lower and lower depending on sales).

Places like Target always feel like there are well staffed because (if I'm not mistaken) last year they went heavy on the P/T and cut a lot of F/T positions at each store level. Also I'm sure that Target's sales goals are better than a lot of specialty stores right now.....easily.

Low sales= Cut hours = Decent staff at peak hours/terrible the other 9-10 hours of operation.

I left my Operations Manager Position at Borders about 9 months ago to finish my degree. Definitely glad I did.

Yup. Also depending on who your Regional Manager was and who your General Managers were, you got reamed for not meeting goals for those books. Write-Ups, Counseling, and constant questions about what your "pitch" was to get these books in your customers hands.

Borders has been hurting for a while, but Ron Marshall really threw the small number of things Borders had going for it completely in the coffin. It also only took him a year to do it! :)

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

The arrogance on this board is embarrassing.

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

Personally I never liked the library-coffee bar style of their stores anyway. In my town at least it was a recipe for being infested by truly annoying teenagers and various degrees of vagrants.

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

And its official: Borders files for Chapter 11 and plans to close about 30% of its stores.

Link

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

CC was one of those enterprises that is VERY competitive to begin with, and comes down to tight competition for each dollar it can squeeze out of customers vis. what it took to open the store every day. Each dollar it discounted with it's competition on it's weekly sales items, was critical to it's very survival. They were probably NOT in it for the long run anyway.

Towards the end, overall, the stores became dirty, with less floor staff, and understocked with the currently released items that they had to make money with to stay alive. You could see them playing with the store's product layout, like THAT had anything to do with it !

All that was left out of all this was an overabundance of OLD inventory, at the same price ! It just laid there in piles, sometimes, which is a sure sign of decay and questionable "legal" business practices.

A visit there became a seminar on NOT what do in retail sales stores, to the uninitiated regular customer !

I'm sure whoever was at the "Top", eventually looted company profits and starved it's retail stores of ANY money to operate!

No tears for CC, Please, as they don't deserve it because they were NEVER designed to "serve customers", anyway. It looked like a quick money making scheme.

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

Is there a list of the stores that are closing yet?

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

Not Yet. From the Bankruptcy website:
http://www.bordersreorganization.com/customerinfo.php

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

Darn, the one by me is closing. It's only a few years old too :(

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

Wow, CT takes a huge hit for a small state....bloody:

Manchester
Milford {SBJ will not be pleased}
Danbury
Simsbury
Wilton
Southbury

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

The store I frequent occasionally is staying open for now.

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

Mine is staying open. Damn. Now only 1 left in Ventura County.

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

Thankfully no more near me are closing.

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

The one I frequent is staying open, but the (larger) one across town is kaput. Really sorry to see Borders staggering, even if they aren't the best book/DVD/CD retailer (I frankly prefer B&N as a "big" bookstore). I don't always like to buy everything online, even if that offers the best deals, and Borders at least carried some unusual stuff that Best Buy never would. It is good to have some choices in local retail, which having a variety of even mediocre big box stores offers. I hated seeing Circuit City go away for the same reason, even if they were poorly run.

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

I'm bummed that a lot of my friends who still work for the company will be losing their jobs if our local store closes.

Another part of me thinks it's hilarious that all the freeloaders that littered that store will travel 5 minutes up the freeway to Barnes & Noble to thrash that store :lol:

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

I'm more bummed about Danbury & Southbury(a concept store). I'm amazed that Fairfield was able to stave off the axe.

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

Wisconsin is left without any Border's (only 4 to start with, all 4 closing).

Sad to see. A lot of employees out of work.

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

Fairfield? That store's in a primo location.....downtown, near the train station, near a University, near restaurants, etc. More disposable income in that town than you can shake a stick at.

What's amazing is that the lone mid-state Borders (Farmington) will have 6 B&N locations within (roughly) a 20 minute drive. :eek:

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

I don't see Eau Claire's on the list. Did I miss it?

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

It's definitely a good location. However, business has got to be down and I would imagine that the rent would be higher than say the Southbury store.

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

Thanks for posting that.

Looks like the store I used to work at is staying in business at least until April 2011.

Though surprisingly some of the other stores I have friends working at (Union Square/San Francisco, Santana Row/San Jose) are shutting down.

Those are some really big stores. Union Square store is right in the heart of Downtown San Francisco.

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

I misread the JSOnline story about it (or they changed their headline later, which has happened before).

All of the Milwaukee area stores are closing (3) and a Madison store (1).

Oops. That leaves 1 store in Madison and 1 in Eau Claire.

Eau Claire has stores?

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

And they're probably huge rent drains on the company (including the store on Market that's also shutting down). My local store is staying open. I'm not sure I care other than it gives people a place to hang out where I don't hang out.

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

Yes, Eau Claire has stores. Lots of them. :) Only one Borders though, no B&N (except for a college bookstore).

A lot of the MN stores are closing, too.

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

Thankfully, Chapter 11 hasn't robbed those of us with Borders Rewards Plus or giftcards:

(I would have included more, but I had to type this by hand since it was sent as a graphic instead of formatted text!)

I hope they don't disappear completely. With 40% off coupons (which works out to 46% off with BR+), they provide some competition to B&N. Just like Best Buy has to keep prices reasonable due to the presence of Circuit Ci--oh. Never mind.

Let's see...in the St. Louis area, we're losing the Ballwin, Chesterfield Mall, and Mid Rivers Mall locations. That still leaves Brentwood, Sunset Hills, South County Mall, and Creve Coeur. So we keep the more central locations and lose everything outside I-270. Interesting.

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

It's good the Eau Claire store is staying open then.

At least in the Milwaukee area, you can't throw a stick without hitting a B&N.

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

Agreed. The rent alone between the Union Square SF Store as well as the Misson Bay Store (across from AT&T Park, which closed last year) were sinkholes for rent.

Santana Row in San Jose is also more of the same.

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

This sucks. i just got three cancellation emails stating that the items (all pre-orders: The Guild S4, Walking Dead S1, & Our Hospitality) were not available.:confused:
Is it due to the Chapt. 11 filing or the fact that i put the orders through via a rebate/coupon site? They were ship2store and the store isn't on the closure list....

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

I had my order of The League S1 Blu cancelled this morning. I paid for it with a gift card on Borders.com. The e-mail said they will be issuing me a new gift card. Just when I thought I had used all of them... crap.

Edit: The title still shows up on the website :mad: If you're going to cancel people's orders, the title better damn well not be available to purchase.

Re: Border's bankruptcy filing possible next week
 

when you go into BK, you have to work out a special deal with the credit card companies or else they won't process the orders